The object of the invention refers to a method as well as to a device for providing information on the occupancy of milking stations of a milking system.
Although below the invention will be described with regard to the use of a milking system for the milking of cows, it will be pointed out that the method according to the invention or the device according to the invention for providing information on the occupancy of milking stations is also suitable for milking systems for the milking of other milk-producing animals, for example sheep, goats, donkeys, dromedaries, yaks, fillies, buffalo, horses and similar.
In the course of automation of milking as well as of the monitoring of animals with regard to their milk output and health, it is known that the animals are provided with an animal identification unit. The animal identification unit may contain various types of information about the particular animal.
For example, a system is known from EP 0 499 428 A1 with an entry which has an identification sensor in a frame. The identification sensor has a transmitting antenna and a receiver antenna for animal identification. The animal identification unit (for example, label) includes an electronic circuit, which is activated by a polling electrical high-frequency radiation (RF frequency) from the transmitter antenna and sends back an identification signal.
After performing an identification, an assignment is made to the milking stations from the sequence of identification of the animals.
The assignment of individual animals to the milking station presents a problem when an animal or a signal could not be received with the required quality, whether because the animal identification means was damaged or got lost.
This problem has already been recognized. A method is known for the correction of the assignment of animals to individual milking stations in EP 0 898 883 A1. For this purpose it is proposed that the expected amount of milk be determined based on historical milk measurements or those available in the past for the particular cows.
The amount of milk actually milked is compared with the expected amount of milk. If the amounts of milk at the particular milking stations do not agree, then a correction is performed by the shifting of at least one or several of the expected amounts of milk relative to the historical amounts of milk for at least one milking station number. If a historical amount of milk can be assigned to the actual amount of milk, then we have a cow identification.
The problem with this method is that a correction of the assignment is done only when the milking process has actually been performed and concluded. Especially in the case of animals whose milked milk must be separated, the correction is done at a point in time which is too late for separation of the milked milk. Moreover, there is a problem that the predicted amount of milk must be determined relatively accurately. If there are animals in an animal herd which give comparable amounts of milk, then unequivocal identification or assignment of the animals to milking stations cannot be done sufficiently so that a residual uncertainty remains.
The reliability of assignment of animals to milking stations can be increased by another method, by having the identification of an animal take place at the milking station itself. However, this involves increased expenditure for the installation and higher costs.